Qatar's rulers established Al-Jazeera Children's Channel in 2005 to nurture Arab and Islamic traditions and values; the channel sought to differentiate itself by ensuring that material would conform to what its management considered to be culturally appropriate guidelines for content. However, having been set up as a child-centred, non-commercial, fully-funded enterprise that aspired to source most of its content within the Arabic-speaking region, its priorities shifted in 2011-13 towards maximizing commercial revenues through foreign imports. In light of the shift, this chapter explores the complex interweaving of commercial and political considerations behind production and commissioning processes. The channel's branding and re-branding shows how a children’s television project can be adopted to reinforce a country’s claim to regional cultural leadership, while being packaged in such a way as to depoliticize that country’s institutions and composition by rooting national identity in a combination of commercial interests and notions of traditional culture.

Global Media and National Policies: The Return of the State Flew, T., Iosifides, P. and Steemers, J. 2016. Global Media and National Policies: The Return of the State . in: Flew, T., Iosifides, P. and Steemers, J. (ed.) Global Media and National Policies: The Return of the State Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1-15

Blurred Lines: Public Service Media and the StateSteemers, J. 2016. Blurred Lines: Public Service Media and the State. in: Flew, T., Iosifides, P. and Steemers, J. (ed.) Global Media and National Policies: The Return of the State Basingstoke Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 139-155

Regaining the Initiative for Public Service Media Ferrell Lowe, G. and Steemers, J. 2012. Regaining the Initiative for Public Service Media . in: Ferrell Lowe, G. and Steemers, J. (ed.) Regaining the Initiative for Public Service Media Goteborg Sweden Nordicom. pp. 9-26

British television in the American marketplaceSteemers, J. 2011. British television in the American marketplace. in: Lavigne, C. and Marcovitch, H. (ed.) American remakes of British television: transformations and mistranslations Lanham, MD Lexington.

Serving children in public service mediaD'Arma, A., Enli, G. and Steemers, J. 2010. Serving children in public service media. in: Lowe, G.F. (ed.) The public in public service media Nordicom. pp. 227-242

Old Europe, new Europe: television in transitionSteemers, J. 2006. Old Europe, new Europe: television in transition. in: Artz, L. and Kamilipour, Y.R. (ed.) The media globe: trends in international mass media Lanham, MD, USA Rowman & Littlefield.